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ABSTRACT
Prevention programs, particularly vaccinations, remain highly vulnerable to budget cuts because their benefits may not be immediately identifiable. Seven Western European countries were selected (Germany, England, France, Italy, Spain, Sweden and Portugal) constituting a good mix of vaccine procurement modalities, with the objective to document the proportion of healthcare spending devoted to vaccines and its evolution. A data search was performed using the OECD online databases and official national sources from 2008 (2006 for England). No country spent more than 0.5% of its healthcare budget on vaccines. The proportion ranged from 0.25% in Spain (2012) and France (2013) to 0.47% in Germany (2014). Whereas healthcare spending increased in all countries but Spain (with increases ranging from +2.6% per year in France between 2008 and 2013 to +8.1% per year in England between 2006/07 and 2009/10), vaccine spending diminished markedly in Germany (−6.2% per year from 2008 to 2014), Spain (−6.7% per year from 2008 to 2012) and France (−4.2% per year from 2008 to 2013). Only Sweden (+5.9% per year from 2011 to 2013) and England (+18.9% per year from 2006/07 to 2009/10) increased their spending on vaccines. Vaccination involves relatively low levels of healthcare investment in Western Europe relative to the far-reaching public health benefits that it provides. We found a net trend toward a decrease in such spending in recent years, with the exception of Sweden and England. Vaccination budgets should be preserved or even increased to sustain a life-course approach to immunization with sufficient coverage rates.
List of abbreviations
| CAGR | = | Compound Annual Growth Rate |
| HPV | = | Human Papillomavirus |
| NHS | = | National Health Service |
| OECD | = | Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development |
| SHI | = | Statutory Health Insurance |
| UK | = | United Kingdom |
Disclosure of potential conflicts of interest
OE is a lecturer and a senior researcher for the Department of Public Health Sciences of the University of Liège. He provides consultancy services through SERFAN Innovation, a company that he owns and operates. FBP and MC are employees of Sanofi Pasteur MSD.
Acknowledgments
This study was funded by Sanofi Pasteur MSD.